EVENT REPORT
SPEEDSOFT - TAIWAN
“IDEALLY WE CAN ALL WORK TOWARDS FINDING
A GREATER PLAYER BASE, WITH A PLACE FOR
EVERYONE TO FIND WHAT THEY WANT FROM THE
HOBBY. AS THE OLD VIKING SAYING GOES “BUILD
A LONGER TABLE, NOT A HIGHER FENCE” AND WE
SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIND A SEAT FOR EVERYONE!”
transient or seasonal at times, with many
players coming and going after a year or
two and moving on to other things and
with perhaps a more limited “old guard”
(like yours truly and many of the more
invested players I left behind in the UK,
who tended to last a matter of decades
without moving on to other things)
there has still been an evident resistance
to new ideas symptomatic of the same
purist elements seen in many places in the
airsoft community and also among many
other sports. Khann himself shared with
us a video from the 80’s regarding the
advent of snowboards and how traditional
skiers were up in arms at the “faddish”
new technology and sporting style of the
trailblazers, which led the way to what is
now a far more mainstream subculture of
another expensive hobby.
Whilst, from a UK standpoint, I can
entirely understand the resistance - having
spent entirely too much time dealing with
the VCRA during my early playing days at
university and attempting to understand
and educate others about the ever-shifting
legal implications (as no doubt anyone who
knew me back then or through the airsoft
forums will attest to!). With the legal
“specific defense” for our continued access
to Realistic Imitation Firearms apparently
hinging largely on the continued need
for “suspension of disbelief”, in as much
that players had to have realistic looking
replicas and equipment to take part in the
military themed simulations, I can imagine
the potential furore that would be caused
by the advent of “paintballers” taking over
the hobby and making it more sport like.
While that obviously presents a
potential issue in the long term (with the
ever-shifting legal minefield that is the
firearms or replica firearms scene in the UK
and even Europe at large more recently)
and justifying our need for such equipment
and wish to continue our activities without
seeking to harm or intimidate others, it can
also be argued that giving it a “friendlier
face” or less militarised looking activity
could be of benefit. In the same way, Jiu
Jitsu leaders spawned the more sport-like
and officially regulated Judo subculture
in its earlier days, to gain wider societal
acceptance for a martial art-cum-combat
sport which was similarly dimly viewed by
peers outside of its practicing circles.
Perhaps in a similar vein, this shift
towards diversified gameplay styles and
equipment used could be viewed as
positive progress; manufacturers certainly
seem to be stepping up to the demand,
with an ever increasing array of option
parts and, more recently, fully assembled
“speedsoft-specific” platforms becoming
available. A little diversification within the
industry can only make it stronger, one
could imagine.
On a related subject, recently there have
been murmurings of anti-airsoft mindsets
within the Taiwanese social and legislative
circles. At the moment these efforts seem
to be somewhat similar to the original
purported aims of the VCRA in the UK,
apparently largely aimed at regulating
those airsoft guns such as GBBRs which
have an alleged greater capacity to be
converted to fire live ammunition. While
many in the local player base and, of
course, the massive airsoft manufacturing
industry would and are arguing strongly
“…THIS SHIFT TOWARDS DIVERSIFIED GAMEPLAY STYLES AND EQUIPMENT USED
COULD BE VIEWED AS POSITIVE PROGRESS; MANUFACTURERS CERTAINLY SEEM TO
BE STEPPING UP TO THE DEMAND, WITH AN EVER INCREASING ARRAY OF OPTION
PARTS AND, MORE RECENTLY, FULLY ASSEMBLED “SPEEDSOFT-SPECIFIC” PLATFORMS
BECOMING AVAILABLE.”
www.airsoft-action.online
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